Brooks & Crowley December 2017

Why the Country’s Gone Crazy for the Keto Diet

It seems like new diet trends start to show up in the news every year, with a horde of diet evangelists following close behind. But almost always, these

liver, where it turns into fatty adipose tissue as the glycogen stores overfill. Basically, the keto diet keeps carbohydrate intake so low that the body is forced to search for another source of energy to keep everything moving. So, the body shifts from metabolizing mostly glucose to metabolizing fats instead. During a process called ketosis, the liver takes fatty acids from the body’s stores and convert them to ketones, which it then “learns” to utilize as its main fuel source. In this way, fat stored in the body is burned away to fuel physical activity. It’s a decidedly extreme diet — to maintain ketosis, strict avoidance of any and all carbs is vital — but there’s plenty of science to back it up. One 2003 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that severely obese participants who kept a strict low-carb diet lost nearly three times as much weight as their low-fat counterparts. individual businesses that rent the space do it. That’s only fair. Because if this isn’t done, and you get hurt, the property owner may be liable for some or all of the resulting damages. The law used to distinguish between natural snowfall and an unnatural accumulation of ice and snow. In those instances, legally, it was better to not touch snow and ice at all (leave it natural) than it was to shovel (make it unnatural) and leave a dangerous condition. The rationale was that the property owner did not create the hazard (snow and ice) and should not be responsible for injuries caused by it. However, once a property owner disturbed the way Mother Nature created it, liability followed. This was the law for more than 100 years. That all changed in 2010, when our Supreme Judicial Court decided a case involving a plaintiff who had slipped and fallen on a piece of ice that had frozen to the pavement on a retail parking lot. The distinction between a natural and unnatural accumulation of snow and ice proved a “slippery” slope — pun intended — for the court and was abolished. The natural accumulation exception was removed and now land owners have a duty to use

However, it’s far from foolproof. As the start of ketosis, you’re essentially starving the body of its previous main fuel source, resulting in sleepiness and weakness until it acclimates to running on ketones. Afterward, proponents say you’ll start to feel satiated and energetic. But, keto can cause problems for high-intensity exercise and strength training, which depend on stored carbs for fuel. Some experts even argue that the diet is dangerous, causing the body to enter “starvation mode.” It can even cause a host of other problems, including making it even harder to lose weight. Whether you’re a proponent or a detractor, it’s clear the keto diet is here to stay, at least for a while. But before embarking on your fat-burning journey, consult with your physician to learn whether ketosis is a safe option for you. reasonable care under the circumstances to keep visitors safe from hazards, including removing ice and snow. In a nod to the nature of the locals, the court held it “is not reasonable for a property owner to leave snow or ice on a walkway where it is reasonable to expect that a hardy New England visitor would choose to risk crossing the snow or ice, rather than turn back or attempt an equally or more perilous walk around it.’’ There are a few ways to collect on those damages, but the usual path is to make a claim against whatever general liability insurance policy the property owner has. Homeowner’s insurance or commercial property insurance are two common ones. Homeowner’s policies typically range from $500,000 to $1 million. The big commercial policies are often significantly larger than that. Of course, navigating the quagmire of liability is best left to experienced professionals. To obtain the proper recovery, you’ll need a good personal injury attorney. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to give us a call.

arrives. However, there’s one diet you’ve probably heard of with a little more staying power. It’s called the ketogenic diet, or “keto,” for short, and it may be the answer to many fair-weather dieters’ woes. The keto diet involves eating mostly foods with high fat content, such as red meat, bacon, butter, nuts, and healthy oils, while keeping carbohydrate intake to an absolute minimum. Fruit, root vegetables, wheat, and sugar must be almost entirely eliminated. Normally, the body uses glucose derived from carbohydrates as its primary fuel source. Unused glucose is converted to glycogen and stored in the As the weather turns and snow starts to fall, a lot of people are going to hit the streets with de-icer, salt, and snow shovels in hand. Unfortunately, other folks won’t. They’ll let the snow and ice buildup on their property, creating an unsafe situation for anybody who sets foot on it. Some of these people might be unscrupulous, others might just not know the law. It doesn’t really matter though, when someone could get hurt. Any property owner has a legal duty to use reasonable care, under the circumstances, to keep visitors safe from hazards. That’s just the law. In most places in Massachusetts, city or local ordinances specifically state what that means for snow and ice removal. The city of Boston mandates clean sidewalks within six hours of a storm. In some places, business owners have as little as three hours to start shoveling after the snowfall. Residents generally get more time, but usually only half a day or so. This duty is almost always on the property owner and can’t be completely transferred. That means an apartment complex can’t make its renters do the shoveling. Similarly, a building owner downtown has to keep the property safe and can’t make the